3 Oct 2008

Craft makes a comeback

Monocle's last edition cover caught my attention: Craft makes a comeback. Along with the eye-catching illustrations by Gaku Nakagawa it outlines the main points of this phenomenon: 'The rise of real provenance', ' Why China's out of fashion for manufacturers' and 'That's right, we're making everything in Europe again'. The main article points out how many companies are bringing manufacturing back to their own countries after the recent rise of oil price and a general unease about outsourcing jobs to unscrupulous factories. After this past 20 years trend of outsourced production, it seems that the "Made In Where You Think It Should Be Made" is enjoying a revival. And as for the current tough times in world economy, the likely favoured are going to be the companies that offer products with lasting values as opposed to goods created to being on-trend for two seasons.

MonocleOctober 2008 issue photographed on IKEA's 365+ RISP quilt cover in black (which is, by the way, made in Turkey but designed in Sweden by designer Maria Vinka).